Isha Sarah Snow
Sociology 102/Social Problems
Jenna DePasquale, M.S., A.B.D.
February 9, 2025
Memo 1:
Abstract
Colonizer culture, in its endless quest for hegemony, is innately insular. This contributes to social dysfunction, collective emotional avoidance and reluctance to self reflect. This memo provides a new theoretical framework for initiating collective shadow work, combining psychological and sociological approaches to investigate the intersectional social issues that are institutionalized parts of Western colonizer culture.
The social problem that I have chosen to explore further in this memo is the three way intersection between gender, poverty and mental illness, with an emphasis on the latter two. I am approaching these issues using a Functional-Conflict perspective, which is a theory that I have been developing for the past two years. FC blends the sociological frameworks of functionalist and conflict theories along utilizing a framework similar to psychology’s Internal Family Systems Theory, viewing each societal group and their associated issues as “parts” functioning together interdependently within the broader societal system. Integrating systems theory, conflict theory and functionalism results in acknowledging that “negative” social problems ultimately serve a “positive” collective function and greater good by generating social stability and systemic cohesion in response to the tension and friction naturally arising between societal structures and their hidden or ignored social issues, which mirrors how psychology’s IFS exposes and heals the wounds of its exiled parts by acknowledging and reintegrating them. Functional-Conflict perspective avoids viewing social issues in absolutist or polarized terms, instead viewing any friction or conflict between its parts as relational and necessary to creating lasting systemic change and maintaining the resulting increase in social consciousness. IFS uses the word “burden” to refer to a specific characteristic that a part has taken on which doesn’t necessarily belong to the original system; an example of this can be found in an article written by Alessio Rizzo explaining how gendered burdens shape society’s hiding and disowning aspects of its sexuality (Rizzo, 2021). Using IFS and FC, gender inequalities, poverty, racial and ethnic disparities, and any other social issue can be seen through the lens of being a “burden” on the larger human social system, as Rizzo clearly shows, using gender as an example. A Functional-Conflict approach uses this concept of burdens to identify societies unresolved historical traumas and institutionalized biases, applying the IFS technique of supporting a system in addressing the roots of its inequality using non judgment, collective ownership, empathy and curiosity. By unburdening the parts of society that carry the traumas of systemic injustice, society heals itself and experiences greater harmony and cohesion. IFS conceptualizes no parts as being “bad” as all parts are interdependent, each serving an integral purpose. Unresolved conflicts, whether on an individual psyche or collective level, lead to dysfunction and defragmentation; rather than something to be avoided, FC understands that the purpose of conflict is to stimulate growth and culminate in resolution. A Functional-Conflict perspective highlights how micro level social interactions and macro level systemic dynamics are related and interconnected and emphasizes cohesion being integral to survival of a species. It borrows from IFS the idea that broader societal issues should not be pathologized or seen as individual shortcomings but rather as be seen as polarities in need of reconciliation, and acknowledges that unmet needs and systemic inequalities serve a necessary function of stimulating and evolving social consciousness through an ongoing process of recognition and awareness creating friction and tension prior to reaching reintegration and resolution, fostering the restoration of collective balance through the dynamic and fluid process of human adaptation. FC is particularly useful when applied towards investigation of the intersectionality between societal injustices, as it analyzes the commonalities between multiple complex and overlapping parts or issues to identify and address corollary root causes, creating opportunities for rapid cultural reformation and social evolution.
The key structural components at play in the issues of poverty, gender and mental illness are all public issues, which C. Wright Mills termed the sociological imagination (Social Problems, 2012). William Ryan expanded on this, pointing out that “Americans typically think that social problems such as poverty and unemployment stem from personal failings of the people experiencing these problems, not from structural problems in larger society.”
Functional-Conflict illustrates that each social problem is part of a larger system sharing at its roots the same legacy burden which is based in Puritanical and colonial values. The social institutions involved in these issues are the family, community, schools, churches, and healthcare systems, public health programs, governmental agencies on federal, state, and local levels, workplaces and employers, the criminal justice system, and news and entertainment media, all of which shape public perceptions of disparities and inequalities, reinforcing stereotypes and perpetuating discrimination towards anyone not conforming to Western sociocultural norms.
Global poverty has a devastating impact on the lives of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. Poor nations have much higher rates of mortality and disease and lower rates of literacy. Poverty, gender issues and mental health issues are all massive and interrelated social problems. Our nation spends billions of dollars to address poverty and spends more money than it should on the consequences of poverty, such as increased health expenses, higher crime rates, and many other issues, including mental health problems. (Social Problems, 2012). Gender and ethnic disparities must be addressed in tandem with poverty. For instance, despite society’s reliance on the unpaid labor of women, particularly when systems fall short, employment rates in the state of Maine have not increased for women in the past 20 years, making them twice as likely to experience poverty as men (Davis, 2024). Women are “much worse off than men in poor nations in many ways, so helping them is crucial for both economic and humanitarian reasons” (Social Problems, 2012).
Current findings:
Hermes Trismegistus is famously attributed as saying ‘As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…’ (Coppenhaver, 1992). This quote can be applied to the phenomenon of a microcosm retaining the qualities of its macrocosm, and all parts of a system retaining the characteristics that make up the whole. Characteristics of the whole can also be changed by its parts, which the Functional-Conflict theory demonstrates. In the article (Whippman, 2012) titled “America the Anxious,” it stated that, “America’s precocious levels of anxiety are not just happening in spite of the great national happiness rat race, but also perhaps, because of it.” The author characterizes the uniquely American relentless pursuit of happiness as an “exhausting daily application of the Declaration of Independence.” The Puritan values that shaped America’s Declaration of Independence emphasized individual liberty, hard work, and a strong belief in self governance. These are reflected in the Declaration’s list of unalienable rights that include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which in turn has shaped how Americans have come to view contentment as a destination and “happiness as work,” as Ruth Whippman states.
Individuals learn how to interact with others through the process of socialization, which is the way that a culture’s behaviors and values are transmitted to its members. For children, this includes the acquisition of individual prosocial skills, as well as absorption of cultural behavioral norms and belief ideologies. These beliefs include what Ruth in this NY Times article describes as “trying too hard” to find and maintain an elusive state of happiness. Being acutely aware of a lack of something results in experiencing its negative, and holding happiness as the emotional standard culturally negates the validity of every other emotional state, crippling the full spectrum of the human emotional experience. America’s focus on positivity becomes toxic and lacks actual joy when happiness becomes an endless chase with constantly moving goalposts; in this way, a consumerist society socializes its members to have toxic, soulless, and labor driven all-consumptive emotions. These soulless and labor driven Puritanical values define the intersection of all institutionalized inequalities. “As deeply as the patriarchal tree shapes our lives, we are the leaves and not the roots, trunk, or branches. We are too easily blinded by the good/bad fallacy that says only bad people can partake in and benefit from societies that produce bad consequences,” writes AG Johnson (1997). Johnson believed that systemic oppression is fueled by a dynamic relationship between control and fear. Mark Rank said that society views poverty as an individual failing, similar to how Johnson described patriarchy blinding us with fallacies; “the traditional manner of thinking about poverty in the United States has been one of viewing impoverishment as largely due to individual inadequacies and failings. Whether it be that those in poverty have not worked hard enough, have failed to acquire sufficient skills, or have made bad decisions in their lives, the problem of poverty is generally seen through the lens of individual pathology.” (Race and Social Problems, page 93).
This article referenced written by Mark Rank appeared in Chapter 6 of Race and Social Problems, where he describes poverty as systemic, pervasive and enduring in Western society due to the values placed on individualism, shaping the way that impoverishment is viewed in American culture and pathologizing it as a personal failing. “These shortcomings include not working hard enough, failure to acquire sufficient skills, or just making bad decisions,” Rank wrote in his article Rethinking American Poverty, and “since individuals are perceived as having brought poverty onto themselves, our collective and societal obligations are seen as limited.” (Race and Social Problems, page 93) These attitudes “foster a lack of political and social will to address the problem itself” (Rank, 2011). Western society depersonalizes and pathologizes the deeper societal issues surrounding mental and behavioral health in the same way that it views poverty as being someone else’s problem. A study by Martin, Pescosolido, Olafsdottir, and McLeod (2007) investigated the social stigma surrounding children and adolescents with mental health conditions and determined that the association of mental illness with dangerousness is a key driver of social rejection, linking behavioral unpredictability with fear. Acker (2006, pg. 454) also attributed the weaponization of fear and other mechanisms used to exert coercive social control with the purpose of achieving compliance as being practices which relate to maintaining structural inequalities such as class, gender, and race.
Just as the issues around poverty surround us all, so do the issues around mental illness and how our culture collectively chooses to ignore the systemic inequalities and stigmatization that results due to internalized fears of divergence from social norms. The Puritan social values of self governance and hard work are the measuring stick used to define concepts of mental illness and poverty, and assume everyone maintains a baseline of perfect health and productivity throughout their lives, but both poverty and mental illness are social problems affecting about half of the population, give or take, at some point when we eventually lose the ability to govern and/or provide for ourselves. Gender issues affect us all, but women disproportionately carry the majority of social burdens for them. One in eight children in North America has a mental health problem, or 13%, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But fewer than 10% receive proper services (Mash, 2022). According to the American Psychiatric Association, more than one in five adults in the US has a diagnosable mental health disorder (Njoku, 2022). The Offices for Disease Prevention estimate that half or one in every two people in the United States will be diagnosed with a mental health issue at some point in their lifetime, but estimates indicate that only half of the individuals affected will actually receive treatment (Healthy People 2030).
Similar to how mental health issues affect a large proportion of the population indiscriminately, “The number of Americans who are touched by poverty during adulthood is exceedingly high. My co-author, sociologist Thomas Hirschl, and I have estimated that between the ages of 20 and 75, nearly 60 percent of Americans will experience at least one year below the poverty line and three quarters will experience a year either in or near poverty. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that two thirds of Americans between the ages of 20 and 65 will wind up using a social welfare program such as Food Stamps or Medicaid; 40 percent will use such a program in at least five years scattered throughout their working age adulthood.” (Rank, 2011) Rank also reports that the reason for such high poverty rates is primarily because during the course of a lifetime, any number of things can happen to people, many of which are unexpected and detrimental—losing a job, a family splitting up, or developing a health problem. Rather than a risk that affects a few on the fringes of society, poverty and the use of a safety net program are events that will strike the vast majority of American citizens. (Race and Social Problems, p. 96) Rank asserts that “the fact that poverty exists in the first place results not from [individual] characteristics, but from a failure of the economic and political structures to provide enough decent opportunities and supports for the whole of society” (Rank, 2011). The responsibility for poverty belongs to society, and not the poor. “The recognition of poverty as a structural failing also makes it clear why the U.S. has such high rates of poverty when compared to other Western countries. It’s not that Americans are less motivated or less skilled than those in other countries, but that our economy has been producing millions of low-wage jobs and our social policies have done relatively little to economically support families compared to other industrialized countries.” (Rank, 2011) Puritan values around working hard, rugged individualism and self governance create the coercive social contract that Western culture adheres to, which in turn influences its social policies and dictate the lack of support most families experience when seeking help from the system when experiencing either poverty or mental illness. Underlying it all is a deficit model based on categorizing human life into hierarchies of social value and varying levels of worth.
In psychiatric anthropology, both illness and disease are considered cognitive constructions based on cultural schemas, which means that the scientific study and deficit model of mental illnesses is itself influenced by the Western culture and belief that some lives matter more than others, which psychiatry originated from. “Cultures as Causative of Mental Disorder” explores the multiple ways that culture can affect how disorders are defined and perceived, and also draws a correlation between the Western cultural view of “child like” behavior and how the West views “primitives,” equating higher social value to cognitive complexity as it relates to productivity, and to the cultural norm of the exploitation of labor being used as social currency. The authors also connect social sanctioning and different types of social controls as playing a major cultural factor in “manifesting and maintaining transgressions in behavior” (Leighton and Hughes, pg 8). This ties directly in with the discussion in the paper “Inequality Regimes: Gender, Class, and Race in Organizations” by Joan Acker, who addresses hierarchical structures and organizational systems as one core aspect which maintains the system of inequalities (Acker, 2006).
Kleinman wrote in “Culture and Depression” that while depression exists universally, the ways that it is expressed and interpreted varies widely,. He described how Chinese depression is experienced somatically and as physical symptoms, in contrast to Western psychiatry’s description of emotional and behavioral expressions. In the article “Studying Mental Illness In Context: Local, Global, or Universal?” Byron Good recounts how Western psychiatric models often overlook sociocultural dynamics and societal interpretations of mental illness, which shape how disorders are defined, treated, experienced and recovered from (Good, 1997), similar to how societally normalized victim blaming views shift the burden of poverty off of the system and onto the individual (Social Problems, 2012). Edward Hagen’s paper “The Functions of Postpartum Depression” challenges PPD as a dysfunction, and instead advocates for PPD as an evolutionary adaptation serving as a function which signals a need for increased social support. His theories of depression as a culturally evolved response to adversity parallel the Functional-Conflict perspective, which views tension and conflict between interdependent systemic parts as serving the basic function of communicating unmet needs that require the system’s immediate attention and resolution (Hagen, 1999; Hagen, 2011).
Using a Functional-Conflict framework and applying the concepts of IFS, I would first identify what qualities the social issue(s) has/have. I would then identify the burdens of the people experiencing that issue, and how those burdens might be contributing to scripts that perpetuate toxicity or inequality. I would then systematically address the burdens by addressing biases and the institutionalized social rewards keeping them in place, and then work towards resolving conflict by reaching collective agreement on a need for change from all parts involved, shifting and letting go of the legacy burdens that belong to our outdated and dysfunctional cultural norms.
For example, in addressing the issue of poverty, I would first look at what the current academic literature and findings are reporting, and note any common ideas, trends or patterns. From the connections drawn between the articles that have been referenced in this paper, I would categorize poverty as 1) a structural failing that is individually pathologized, 2) something that can affect anyone at any time, 3) something that affects nearly everyone at some point, 4) something that is not being adequately addressed on a systemic level. In addressing the connections made between articles on cultural approaches to mental illness, I would also identify that mental illness is 1) a structural failing that is individually pathologized, 2) something that can affect anyone at any time, 3) something that affects nearly everyone at some point, 4) something that is not being adequately addressed on a systemic level.
A noteworthy example of both the first and fourth social issues listed can be found in the childhood mental diagnoses of oppositional defiant disorder and/or conduct disorder, which describes symptoms of children acting out in rebellion and in opposition to authority, displaying aggressive and antisocial behaviors that violate the rights of others with little regard to the consequences of their actions. What this culturally sanctioned pathologization of childhood behavior fails to take into account is how these are fairly normal responses for a child who has been parented through coercive control, which involves repeated violations of a child’s own rights and autonomy. It is also typical for the nervous system to be having a stress response while attempting to exist under a controlling power structure, such as in our current political, governmental, administrative and institutionalized public and social systems which in many cases, is reflected in our culturally sanctioned parenting practices as well. The authoritarian pathologization of child behavior of scapegoating children due to modeling their behaviors after their adult caregivers is symptomatic of victim blaming or “crab bucket” mentality, a metaphor for the human social contract, where crabs keep pulling each other back in a bucket, alluding to how people fail to help each other under a dominion and dominance based system. This “me first” individualism explains the cultural phenomenon of parents who seek a diagnosis and treatment for their children instead of self-reflecting on their own rejected and ignored parts.
Children, who never self refer for treatment, are blamed for their behavior issues which likely result from a combination of these neglected parts: early attachment trauma, poor parenting methods, inconsistent discipline, high conflict homes, and living in poverty (Mash, 2022). All of which are reflective of larger systemic issues (rejected parts). Pathologizing child behavior or mental illness in general fails to take into account that crabs do not naturally occur in buckets, and people do not naturally occur in authoritarian systems based on power and control. “Kids who are described as hard to handle are often resisting the tendency of adults to treat them as things to be handled,” said Alfie Kohn.
Having identified that poverty and mental illness as social issues both share the same basic qualities (parts), I would locate and name any commonalities between the parts. For instance, what is the relationship between these four things: 1) a structural failing that is individually pathologized, 2) something that can affect anyone at any time, 3) something that affects nearly everyone at some point, 4) something that is not being adequately addressed on a systemic level? Do these parts indicate a broader pattern? These qualities may indicate abuse, neglect, entitlement, the systemic avoidance of responsibility, a cycle of learned helplessness, and may also indicate patterns of behavior motivation using shame or blame. Testing these qualities against other social issues will indicate the saliency and validity of the labeled parts; in the case of gender and women’s studies or race, patterns of learned helplessness, systemic avoidance of responsibility, as well as the use of shame or blame to modify behaviors and maintain inequalities all still apply. If we externalize these shared parts onto any given individual’s personality, these traits would all resemble symptoms which are typically associated with a diagnosis of narcissism, or with toxic and red flag behaviors, indicating a sickness or corruption within the system itself. These traits are also associated with colonialism, the practice of using stolen labor and resources to generate wealth. After listing the basic traits (or “parts”) of each social issue, naming any shared qualities the traits may have, and investigating any overlapping areas of interest, we have identified the friction or conflict in question; in this case, the key structural components of society and the social institutions involved in Western society retain narcissistic traits and behaviors due to parts of a system retaining the essential qualities of that system. These institutions include the family, community, schools, churches, and healthcare systems, public health programs, governmental agencies on federal, state, and local levels, workplaces and employers, the criminal justice system, and news and entertainment media.
Identifying the social conflict at its roots exposes a common denominator; violation of a key element of the capitalist social contract, the ability to produce wealth and contribute to the economy through labor or skills. We can further extrapolate that burdens serve a functional purpose through weaponizing shame and fear of burdens in an attempt to coerce society’s members into agreeing to the terms of the social contract. The social contract is a form of control that forces society members to trade their freedom and autonomous rights to self govern for limited protections that could be lost at any time and a false sense of security that is used as a weapon. A social contract is an agreement that defines an individual’s rights and responsibilities in society, and the capitalist social contract only benefits and extends to those who agree to be controlled by it, and whose labor or talents are exploitable. This shared and unspoken social script surrounds every narrative on systemic injustice and inequality. It classifies individuals by type, and vilifies members of marginalized groups by extending the benefits of society only to the members who have the ability to contribute to the system through access to capital. The capitalist social contract creates a shared social script based on a classification of human beings that results in a hierarchical authoritarian power structure which informs social norms and relational dynamics. Dividing and classifying individuals based on their abilities to produce wealth manifests itself on a micro relational level as public perceptions depicting the mentally unwell as “choosing” not to overcome their condition and being “weak willed,” and portraying people living in poverty as being lazy. One example of this macro systemic hierarchical power structure manifesting itself on an individual micro relational level behaviorally is when an individual uses boundaries as a form of control or as a way of maintaining power in the relationship. Oppressive social contracts penalize individuals who do not adhere to their assigned roles, placing burdens and/or social sanctions on those unable to follow scripts and rules or play the social game properly, and treating resultant suffering as individual failings instead of the greater moral and societal issue that it is. Actual rights only exist in a system where they can’t be lost, and where no one has the power to take them away. Carl Jung once said, “the classification of individuals by type means nothing at all” (Evans, 1964, page 23). The lines between abnormal and normal, healthy and unhealthy are entirely arbitrary (Mash, 2022) and culturally defined, which means they could be evaluated for their usefulness and redefined at any point in time.
Oppressive social contracts lead to a systemic failure, meaning that Americans do not have unalienable rights, they have conditional privileges that exist dependent on collective conformity and adherence to the social contract, on individual social, emotional, physical and cognitive abilities, as well as on characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, income level, and so on. “There’s a fundamental distinction between who loses at the game and why the game produces losers in the first place” (Rank, 2011). “Given that the game is structured in a way such that players are bound to lose, these individual attributes only explain who loses, not why there are losers in the first place. Ultimately, there are simply not enough chairs for those playing the game” (Rank, 2011).
This leads to the question of who is controlling the seats at the table, and why. For logic and reasoning purposes, Functional-Conflict relies on Occam’s Razor (the simplest explanation is the best one) and Hanlon’s Razor (never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect), which means that FC assumes good faith and rejects unnecessary complexities to make clear and straightforward claims. Having identified that the conflicted part that is causing social friction within the system is as coercive control, I could explore the many ways that coercive parts show up within the system, indicating further saliency. For instance, I would note that in regards to gender issues, patriarchy puts women in the position of needing men, whether they really want them or not. In regards to poverty, a system that puts a price tag on basic human rights puts a coercive price tag on survival, weaponizing poverty as a form of violence against its own citizens. The legacy burden that has been identified here is pervasive and systemic coercive control.
FC would then identify the other burdens associated with being impoverished, a woman, and mentally ill, and where these burdens might overlap. Comparing the categories, I would see that mental illness, gender issues and experiencing poverty share mutual burdens in the areas of basic needs insecurities, social stigmas and barriers to opportunity, increased psychological and emotional stress, health challenges, limited access to resources, reduced life expectancy, educational and developmental delays, and strained personal relationships. They both also involve risks of getting stuck in a self perpetuating cycle. Identifying the existing issues within the common sociocultural narrative that result in barriers to an individual’s abilities to live a life of liberty and pursue happiness is a prerequisite first step to changing the rules of the game to ensure that the fundamental rights described in the Declaration of Independence are upheld. Establishing a common moral framework is imperative prior to beginning discussion on systemic biases and the facts surrounding the institutionalized social rewards that keep inequalities held in place through privileges that are only experienced by the parts of the whole benefiting from adhering to the social contract. But what is the point of a society if not to help care for each other and to help everyone to realize their full potentials? Reframing the social contract from “crabs in a bucket” to one where the suffering of others isn’t seen as personally beneficial and replacing the dysfunctional system by adopting an equity seeking relational framework would result in a better game for everyone, by adding more seats to the table and increasing opportunities to play.
Shadow work was developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. It is a type of psychotherapy that evaluates the hidden motives behind thought and action; it explores and integrates the hidden aspects of an individual’s personality. A Functional-Conflict analysis combines sociological and psychological theories to develop a theory based on systemic or collective shadow work, analyzing systems and their parts to expose hidden corruption and, through restorative justice practices, FC creates an action plan for integration, repair, and cohesion. It can be used to evaluate the intersection of any social issue through analyzing and evaluating characteristics of individual parts which mirror shared commonalities with the system the parts belong to, identifying problems at their roots. For instance, in evaluating the intersection of gender and poverty, FC can be employed at the intersection of gender disparities among women, connecting the cultural undervaluing of the care industry (Davis, 2024) to poverty and mental illness through the intersecting parts of Western social contracts, to the Puritanical emphasis on independence and self reliance, and to coercive control, which results in the diminishment of caregiver value. Identifying these legacy burdens is the first step towards consciously shifting social norms towards healthier relational practices. Fostering healthy relationships that are based in mutual respect and collaboration accomplishes social cohesion by creating sustainable equitable structures, through collaborative and restorative social interactions on both macro and micro levels.
After identifying a system’s ignored or excommunicated parts, areas of friction or conflict, and its associated burdens, we can use this information to improve ourselves and our environment. The final step of Functional-Conflict is integration through resolution, and involves creating a detailed action plan with incremental steps towards attainable goals focused on maintaining sustainable growth. By definition, you are in your environment right now, and saving the environment also means saving yourself. Viewing both the micro and macro aspects of society and its parts as personally reflective of both ourselves individually, and also viewing individuals being reflective of the larger interdependent system that we are a part of, can help to expose our hidden and ignored parts and open them up for shared dialogue and healing on a collective level. This discussion leads to contemplating our collective ethics and values, and deeper questions such as who we really are as an individual, as a species, and more importantly, who we all want to become together, and how we all want to move forward. Will we continue to make unconscious choices that reflect our excommunicated parts and the burdens that they have taken on as part of our rejection of them? An FC approach would map the patterns, inquire and investigate further into what the burdens need us to know, find out what they are trying to communicate to us, where they came from, and how they can best be understood. It would then strategize ways to release the burdens or reincorporate them into the collective by finding new roles for the parts. Using coercive control as an example, after mapping where it appears in society, I would trace it back to its origins, understand its impacts, engage the larger groups affected as well as organizations and society in general in multiple conversations to raise awareness, employ restorative justice practices, subvert unhealthy patterns by teaching and intentionally practicing and modeling new ways of socializing and relating to others, and create new cultural narratives though the use of trauma informed leadership. At the root of coercive tactics is a fear of the loss of control, but strong leaders inspire respect through transparency and fostering an environment of trust.
The Functional-Conflict perspective hypothesizes that friction from systemic injustice and intersectional social conflicts will ultimately push humanity towards a collective increase in social awareness, establishing a need for mutual collaboration. FC focuses our attention on the various social conditions (parts) that account for systemic failures instead of blaming the victim, using radical responsibility to create a conscious agreement towards mutual evolution, using social inequality as a moral compass in shaping who humanity becomes by showing us who we no longer want to be, establishing a collective shift in the social climate, paving a path towards collaboration and ensuring our mutual survival as a species in the process. “A burden can only be shifted and let go of when all parts are in agreement. If not, the burden is likely to return” (Rizzo, 2021). As AG Johnson wrote, “there are many ways to avoid facing the world in ourselves and ourselves in the world. But it has to get done sooner or later, because any society that does not take seriously enough the critical process of creating alternatives to itself probably does not have much of a future” (1997).
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Spirolateral 